Hada Bejar(1931-2014)
- Actress
- Writer
Cuban stage, radio, and television actress, as well as a gifted writer, producer and director. The daughter of celebrated stage actors José María Béjar and Beatriz Fernández Llaneza, she made her acting debut when she was barely forty days old, playing Baby Jesus in a stage production based on the Gospels. From then on, every time a child was needed in a play in which her parents acted, Hada (pronounced Ada in Spanish) would be chosen. At ten years old she was a regular performer in a children's radio show, but at that point her parents insisted that their daughter concentrate on a formal education. With high school and college diplomas on her wall, Hada went back to acting on radio serials in which her exquisite soft feminine voice won over national audiences and her performances were highly praised by critics. From then on, Miss Béjar was much in demand as a leading lady and her career was unstoppable.
When television arrived In Cuba in 1950, Miss Béjar became a pioneer of the new medium starring in two highly rated telenovelas (soap operas), La Novela Gravi and La Luz En El Camino. It must be noted that Miss Béjar, a devout catholic, insisted on playing clean heroines and refused roles as a femme fatale or as "the other woman". The public cherished her image as the embodiment of the ideal female, feminine, good-looking, elegant and educated; the kind of lady that women would like to emulate and men would like to marry. Actually, about this time, the actress found true love and married Mr. Manolo García Suárez, a businessman not connected to show business. The wedding was a storybook affair, amply covered by the media, and the successful marriage would produced two sons.
Hada Béjar proceeded with her career not only appearing Monday through Friday in the always popular soap operas but also on Saturdays in countless teleplays based on the world's greatest plays and literature. One such a play ended up being quite a memorable affair for reasons nobody suspected. It was Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan in which Hada costarred with the legendary Mexican actress Dolores del Río in a live broadcast that made history. During an important scene Miss del Río forgot the dialog, an unfortunate occurrence that would have spelled disaster for any play, except for Hada's quick response to the situation ad-libbing lines until Miss del Rio remembered hers. After this remarkable showing, Miss Béjar was perceived not only as a capable actress but as an accomplished professional.
By the late 1950's Hada Béjar remained a household name, who organized and managed her career so effectively that in spite of her many television commitments, she continued appearing on radio and stage sometimes even writing her own scripts. With the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and the subsequent confiscation by the new Marxist government of all private business including theaters, radio, and television stations, Miss Béjar saw her whole world crumbling. She was now expected to work under a strict censorship which controlled all aspects of Cuban culture including a fierce religious persecution, most especially of Catholics. Miss Béjar and her family knew they could no longer live in the unfortunate island, but leaving the country was not at all easy. The opportunity presented itself thanks to friends in Mexico connected to the movie industry who knew of the actress' predicament. They issued a formal contract with the required temporary visas for Hada, accompanied by her family, to act in Mexico in the film "El derecho de nacer" (1966) based on the popular novel by Cuban writer Félix B. Caignet. It was a very well known work for Hada since she had acted on radio and television adaptations of the same novel. When the filming was over, Hada, with family in tow, managed to escape to the United States where they were granted political asylum.
Settling in Miami, the center of the Cuban diaspora, it was not easy for Miss Béjar to relaunch her career. After the initial struggles, the actress found opportunities to display her talents on Miami stages as well as Spanish language radio and television. She triumphed in prestigious plays such as "The Lady of the Camellias" by Alexandre Dumas fils, "Tea And Sympathy" by Robert Anderson, "The Lady of the Dawn" by Alejandro Casona, and many others. On radio and television Miss Béjar acted in various soap operas and plays including some that she wrote herself. As the years passed she took on roles according of her age and revealed herself as an accomplished writer selling her novels and scripts in Miami, Puerto Rico and Central America where they were made into telenovelas. It was clear that nothing could stop this remarkable woman as she also wrote biographies and articles for the Spanish edition of The Miami Herald, and for magazines such as Buenhogar, Intimidades, and other publications. At the same time she was featured in television serials including the very successful "Guadalupe", "Gata salvaje" or "Ángel rebelde".
As she neared retirement age, Miss Béjar took a post at catholic Radio Paz, hosting her own radio show named "Vidas ejemplares" (Exemplary Lives) in which she read biographies of Christian saints she herself researched and wrote. It was a work very dear to her heart and it became another success for the actress-author and one that lasted almost to the end of her life. She worked tirelessly and very few people knew she had begun a painful struggle against cancer in absolute privacy. Hada Béjar, one of the most prolific and outstanding talents of her generation, lost the battle surrounded by family and dear friends on February 28th, 2014. She was 83 years old.
When television arrived In Cuba in 1950, Miss Béjar became a pioneer of the new medium starring in two highly rated telenovelas (soap operas), La Novela Gravi and La Luz En El Camino. It must be noted that Miss Béjar, a devout catholic, insisted on playing clean heroines and refused roles as a femme fatale or as "the other woman". The public cherished her image as the embodiment of the ideal female, feminine, good-looking, elegant and educated; the kind of lady that women would like to emulate and men would like to marry. Actually, about this time, the actress found true love and married Mr. Manolo García Suárez, a businessman not connected to show business. The wedding was a storybook affair, amply covered by the media, and the successful marriage would produced two sons.
Hada Béjar proceeded with her career not only appearing Monday through Friday in the always popular soap operas but also on Saturdays in countless teleplays based on the world's greatest plays and literature. One such a play ended up being quite a memorable affair for reasons nobody suspected. It was Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan in which Hada costarred with the legendary Mexican actress Dolores del Río in a live broadcast that made history. During an important scene Miss del Río forgot the dialog, an unfortunate occurrence that would have spelled disaster for any play, except for Hada's quick response to the situation ad-libbing lines until Miss del Rio remembered hers. After this remarkable showing, Miss Béjar was perceived not only as a capable actress but as an accomplished professional.
By the late 1950's Hada Béjar remained a household name, who organized and managed her career so effectively that in spite of her many television commitments, she continued appearing on radio and stage sometimes even writing her own scripts. With the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and the subsequent confiscation by the new Marxist government of all private business including theaters, radio, and television stations, Miss Béjar saw her whole world crumbling. She was now expected to work under a strict censorship which controlled all aspects of Cuban culture including a fierce religious persecution, most especially of Catholics. Miss Béjar and her family knew they could no longer live in the unfortunate island, but leaving the country was not at all easy. The opportunity presented itself thanks to friends in Mexico connected to the movie industry who knew of the actress' predicament. They issued a formal contract with the required temporary visas for Hada, accompanied by her family, to act in Mexico in the film "El derecho de nacer" (1966) based on the popular novel by Cuban writer Félix B. Caignet. It was a very well known work for Hada since she had acted on radio and television adaptations of the same novel. When the filming was over, Hada, with family in tow, managed to escape to the United States where they were granted political asylum.
Settling in Miami, the center of the Cuban diaspora, it was not easy for Miss Béjar to relaunch her career. After the initial struggles, the actress found opportunities to display her talents on Miami stages as well as Spanish language radio and television. She triumphed in prestigious plays such as "The Lady of the Camellias" by Alexandre Dumas fils, "Tea And Sympathy" by Robert Anderson, "The Lady of the Dawn" by Alejandro Casona, and many others. On radio and television Miss Béjar acted in various soap operas and plays including some that she wrote herself. As the years passed she took on roles according of her age and revealed herself as an accomplished writer selling her novels and scripts in Miami, Puerto Rico and Central America where they were made into telenovelas. It was clear that nothing could stop this remarkable woman as she also wrote biographies and articles for the Spanish edition of The Miami Herald, and for magazines such as Buenhogar, Intimidades, and other publications. At the same time she was featured in television serials including the very successful "Guadalupe", "Gata salvaje" or "Ángel rebelde".
As she neared retirement age, Miss Béjar took a post at catholic Radio Paz, hosting her own radio show named "Vidas ejemplares" (Exemplary Lives) in which she read biographies of Christian saints she herself researched and wrote. It was a work very dear to her heart and it became another success for the actress-author and one that lasted almost to the end of her life. She worked tirelessly and very few people knew she had begun a painful struggle against cancer in absolute privacy. Hada Béjar, one of the most prolific and outstanding talents of her generation, lost the battle surrounded by family and dear friends on February 28th, 2014. She was 83 years old.
